Also called Koliada, Koleda, Kolęda, Koledo.
The tale
Koliada, from the Latin kalendae, is the winter carolling season among the Slavs, when groups with a star and a goat mask sang blessings at each house and were rewarded with food. In some songs Koliada is addressed as a person who arrives from far away. The Hustyn Chronicle claims that Koliada was once a god of feasting, but most scholars see the figure as a personification of the festival.
When they are met
- Koliada (midwinter and the Christmas season)
- New Year
Staying on their good side
- kutia (wheat and honey porridge)
- small cakes or coins for carollers
- a sheaf of grain in the corner
Honouring them, or keeping safe
- Sing a winter carol at your neighbour's door, or at home.
- Make kutia and set a spoonful aside for the ancestors.
- Place a sheaf or bunch of dried grasses in the corner for the new year.
What their tales teach
- community
- blessing the home
- hope in the dark of the year
Symbols
- a star on a pole
- a goat mask
- kutia porridge
- a sheaf of grain
Koliada as a deity rests on a late chronicle claim; the carolling custom itself is well recorded.
Sources
- Hustyn Chronicle (17th century)
- Linda J. Ivanits, Russian Folk Belief
- Vladimir Propp, Russian Agrarian Festivals
More Slavic folklore
- Baba Yaga The witch in the hut on hen's legs
- Domovoi The grandfather who lives behind the stove
- Leshy The master of the forest
- Rusalka The maiden of river and birch
- Kikimora The spinner in the dark corner
- Koschei the Deathless The sorcerer whose death is hidden
- Kostroma The straw maiden of spring and summer
- Dodola The rain-bringing girl of summer